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oh merde
( twilight. breaking dawn pt i )

chapter sixteen.
no choices left

    IT was normal for days to zoom past, nowadays, for Georgine Brodeur, but with the sudden notion of the pain Bella was being put through only seemed to force them to drag-on.

Bella was hurting, but so was Georgine.

Her best friend was pregnant, because a vampire━━an idea that should've been deemed impossible. It was, until the day Alice phoned them, and, from there, everything just seemed to turn to shit.

     Georgine wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her best friend. Bella wanted this baby, and it was such a detrimental threat to her entire being, sure, but Georgine wasn't going to attempt to change her mind. She was adamant, and if those were her wishes, the vampire would do everything in her power to make sure they came true. Georgine Brodeur was the last person who wanted anything remotely painful to happen to Bella, but she also wanted to respect her wishes.

     If she wanted that baby, she would have that baby.

     That's what she was calling it, anyway, her and Rose━━a baby, because, what else could it be? Edward and Bella, for the first time, spent a night together pull of pure passion and lust, and the next thing they all knew, something was creeping around inside Bella's stomach. There was no other explanation for what it was, and the rest of the coven needed to wrap their heads around that. They wanted to protect her, to make sure she stayed alive and eventually found her destined path to become one of them, too, to live out her eternal days as a family, with her husband. Georgine wanted that for her friend, too, but there was still a baby inside of her, and it felt all sorts of wrong to kill something so innocent, when it hadn't even been given a small chance at life.

     Jacob wasn't exactly helping, either━━he would relentlessly ambush (as Georgine deemed it) Bella, telling her that it was wrong for her to go along with it all, to keep it, and therefore, kill herself. But, Bella was always the type of person to put others before herself, and it was showing more and more as the days went by. This was her baby, her child, and people didn't expect her to sacrifice herself, so it could live the life it should've been rightfully granted?

Edward wasn't much help, to be fair, but at least he was a little more compassionate than the wolf. He'd stay by Bella's side━━of course he would━━for as long as they could live, but if anything were to ever threaten to life of his wife, of his one true love, then he'd go to the ends of the Earth to protect her, to eliminate the threat. And, if that meant getting rid of his own child, then Georgine believed he would go through with it.

Georgine was on her way to visit Bella (she had been checking in every other minute, it seemed like━━but, could you blame her? Her best friend was in pain, and all she wanted to do was comfort her!), her feet gently gliding her along the floor, as she made her way to the room she was situated in. At that moment, Bella was resting, trying to get as much sleep as she could, whilst her pain wasn't as bad as it would eventually get. But, she paused in her tracks when she spotted Edward outside one of the double doors, the windows glistening against the sunlight, as it peeked out through the overhead trees. She notices his stance━━straight, stiff━━and his eyes stare off into the far distance. Georgine looks off the same way, too, before her gaze immediately lands on two lone figures, lurking behind the tall trees. She recognises them to be Jacob and Seth (the werewolf that had ripped Riley off of her not too long ago).

(She still hadn't thanked him, for that.)

Jacob nodded, and as he opened his mouth to let out words, Georgine perked her heating up, focusing hard to hear them coherently. "Get ready━━they're coming for Bella."

They're coming for Bella. The wolves. Anger pricked at her skin, goosebumps trailing up and along her pale, cold-as-ice arms. Her irises seemed to turn a deeper, darker shade of red (if it was even possible), and she seethed, teeth gritting. She wasn't nearly as angry as she could've made herself, upon the realisation that even more threat was aiming for Bella, but she was still angry, and she was doing her best to keep as calm as possible. (It wasn't exactly working.) They sky above them showed clouds as they began to turn black, a crack of thunder echoing in the far distance. Upon realising the sudden change in the weather was her doing, she shook her head, looking up to Edward as he smirked her way. Edward was more than happy to have someone as powerful as Georgine on their side, with her powers, and more than happy to have someone so close to Bella as Georgine was, too. He knew she, too, would protect Bella with her life, and Edward was beyond grateful for that.

Edward's eyes shifted back to Jacob. "They're not gonna touch her." he denied, adamancy clear in his tone.

"Agreed."

"Done."

In that moment, it was clear between the three of them, that if a fight were to break out between the vampires and the werewolves, they'd be prepared, ready to go down with it, to participate, with Bella in their minds.

Bella wasn't going to get harmed.

They'd make sure of that.

With one last nod in Jacob's direction, Edward motioned for Georgine to follow behind him, walking back into the comfort of their home, where no one could harm a hair on anyone's head.

Georgine sighed. "Do you think there is gonna be a fight?"

Edward could only shrug his shoulders. "I don't know━━but if it comes down to it, I need to know you'll do everything in your power to make sure they don't get anywhere near her."

She nodded instantly, not believing Edward didn't think that was something she would do automatically. "Of course, even if I can't completely control, yet."

"You'll do good, you know you will."

She didn't, but she guessed she'd only have to take Edward's word for it━━there was no time for her to practice, but the more she thought about it, Georgine didn't believe she'd necessarily need it. Just looking back, minutes, seconds before, to when she had been told the wolves were willing to kill Bella so she wouldn't have her baby, her anger had bubbled up to the surface, and she brought about thunder. Sure, it wasn't anywhere near them, but she knew the anger would only fuel ten times more as they fight began, and lightning would become their worst enemy.

     In the next moment, as they stepped into the room Bella was being held in, the sounds of wolves howling reverberated through the entire forest. From her ears, Georgine could tell that they were no one knew the home, but it still sent shivers up her spine. That was probably the first time she truly understood the severity of the situation they had all been forced in. She couldn't begin to imagine Jacob and Seth's pain━━even if she didn't really like one of them, anymore. The pair had broke themselves apart from their pack, their family they had been apart of their entire lives, because they believed their alpha's plan was wrong. That had to have taken some guts.

     Eventually, the pair had walked into their home, with another girl by their side━━Leah, Seth's older sister. Georgine guessed that she must've left the pack, too, so she could join her younger brother. She wouldn't have been surprised, considering they're siblings━━even if you're not close with your brother or sister, you still look out for them, especially when they're younger than you. It's like an automatic feeling, to protect them. At least, that's how Georgine looked at it.

     When she thought about it, Georgine didn't know that there could even be female wolves. She had only ever seen males, but, in all honesty, she had never necessarily been around too many of them. Her hair was cut short, a bob dangling to the tops of her shoulders, a stern expression forced upon her features as her eyes glazed around each of the vampires surrounding them. She didn't trust them, Georgine could tell, and she supposed it was understandable, from their point of view. They were vampires, and they were werewolves; a line came in between them that told them all to never cross it, to never interact with the other species out of fear of a fight breaking out. That was their treaty, and they had never crossed over the line...

     ...Until, now, anyway.

They had retracted themselves into another room, so Bella couldn't hear the severity of the situation━━no one wanted to add more pressure into the girl than she was already feeling. Jacob looked around the room, making sure each of the vampires were listening. "Sam's lost the element of surprise, and he doesn't want to take you on outnumbered, so he's not gonna come at you head on." He explained. From the seat beside her, Edward stared intently at the wolf, listening in on his every word. Behind her, Georgine felt two hands come down to clamp themselves against her shoulders, rubbing soft circles with their thumbs on her shoulder blades, so as to calm her━━Jasper. No one wanted an unexpected storm. "He's got the place surrounded and he'll wait for his opportunity."

"We won't get through without a fight." Emmett deadpanned, speaking out on what everyone was already thinking about.

But, their father was quick to disagree. "No fights. We won't be the ones to break the treaty."

That was when Georgine spoke, finally deciding then was the perfect opportunity to voice her opinions on the matter. "No fights? They're threatening Bella's entire life━━if they even think about getting near her, I know I won't hesitate." Georgine Brodeur had never been a violent person, ever, and, yet, on the day she woke up to her new life, that seemed to have changed. She had a bloodlust, a thirst, a hunger to ravage anything that got in her way, whether she particularly liked them or not. It was the effects of being a newborn, she was told, and eventually, in due time, it would go away. She hadn't been doing too bad━━she knew that━━but, even so, Georgine couldn't wait to be rid of it.

Jasper's hands squeezed tighter onto her shoulders, letting her know that she needed to calm down, to breathe. She peered up outside, looking out the window, only to notice light droplets of rain had started to pause from the heavens. Calm, she told herself, just breathe.

The father sighed, shaking his head. "I know Bella would be very appreciative of how much you're willing to protect her, but we can't afford to go into this fight. We'll lose everything. And, the treaty━━"

"The treaty is void, at least in Sam's mind." Jacob cut through Carlisle, speaking the truth of their situation.

"Not in ours." Esme spared a look at both Georgine and Edward, signalling to them that they shouldn't go head on into expecting a fight to break out on Bella's behalf. Whilst they would all protect her, completely, they knew it shouldn't be done that way, not on their behalf.

(Only if Georgine was pushed to the last straw, then she knew she'd explode.)

Georgine looked around them, before her eyes zoned in on the two stood solemnly behind Jacob. Leah's gaze continued to be firm, set-in-place, to show that she didn't like it there, around all those vampires, but she'd stick it out, for the sake of doing what's right, and protecting her little brother. Seth, however, was like a little child, with the way his eyes zoomed from one thing to another. (In a way, Georgine supposed he was only a little child━━the youngest to have turned into a wolf.) When eyes found herself, specks of dirt-brown flittered in between crevices, meeting ones of crimson-red, blood from the animals she claimed as food, he stopped, pausing. His expression fell, worried that he had crossed a line, some sort of boundary. But, Georgine was quick to let him know he hadn't━━she sent him a smile, one that was barely visible upon her features before it disappeared into oblivion, but it was there, and he had seen it.

"Carlisle," Emmett's voice boomed around them, worry filling up in his tone, before erupting from his lips, "no one's hunted for weeks." It was true━━they hadn't managed to get outside and property hunt for ages, and whilst they still had their emergency bags hidden away in the kitchen, they knew it wouldn't be enough for all of them. Emmett continued, this time, the dread being aimed towards her. "And, Georgine hasn't been able to feed properly for too long. The bags won't keep her at bay. If we're not careful, she's gonna go feral, and I'm sure that's the last thing we all want, Georgine especially, when we have Bella in the house." She hadn't thought about that, until Emmett had brought it all to their attention. Georgine couldn't have that, she couldn't have the possibility right at the tips of her fingers, lurking on their doorstep, their inevitable presence waiting, for her to kill Bella, if she couldn't help it. They all knew she'd try her best to hold off for as long as possible, but there was no saying what would truly happen if they couldn't get her anything for so long.

Jasper seemed to have sensed her worry, the argument within her own mind, against herself. He squeezed her shoulders, once more. "I'll take care of that, don't worry."

She didn't know what that meant, but she trusted him, completely.

     Esme looked in the pair's direction, offering Georgine a sympathetic smile, full of remorse (one she struggled to give back), before looking back towards her son. "The rest of us will make do."

     A solemn silence enveloped itself around the group, tempting their strength to survive through this. They knew it was going to be difficult━━immensely so, now that they had a newborn living with them, along with a human━━but, they all had faith that they could get through it. That was all they had left, really: faith.

They could only hope it would work out in their favour, before things got too out of hand...

...Before Georgine Brodeur erupted into flames.

Carlisle sighed, sending his gratitude towards the wolves. "You've done us a great service, Jacob━━you all have. Thank you."

They only nodded in return, no expression clear on their features, no words tumbling out of their mouths.

The three unexpected wolves stand up to leave, ready to get back outside and into the wilderness, where they would be standing guard, prepared to stop the rest of their old pack from getting too close to their home. As they stood up, people began to disperse, most of them going in to talk to Bella, to give her a brief understanding of what was going on, and what they were hoping to happen. Georgine turned around, and spoke in hushed tones, mentioning to Jasper that she wouldn't be too long. He gave her a confused look, but nodded, nonetheless, as she then took off, in the direction of where the wolves had begun retreating outside.

It was just her and the them; one vampire and three wolves. Nothing bad could happen, right?

"Hey," she called softly, but loud enough for the trio to hear them. They stopped in their tracks and immediately turned around, noticing the vampire staring back at them, expectantly. Georgine noticed as Leah's figure stiffened, her feet dragging her to stand a little in front of her brother. Jacob noticed it, too, for his head turned to her and his brows furrowed. She wondered if they could communicate in their minds, as apart of a pack (did the trio now count as one pack?), because Leah then stepped back a few paces, understanding that Georgine wasn't there to hurt any of them━━she wasn't like that. "Can I speak to Seth, for a minute?"

     At the mention of his name, a shocked expression plastered itself against his features. None of them had been expecting the young boy to be the reason behind her appearance━━if anything, they had expected it to be Jacob, considering she used to be good friends with him... up until he turned sour. But, nevertheless, the boy nodded, a little too eagerly. He went to move in her direction, but his older sister grabbed his arm, sending him a stern look, reprimanding him.

     "Leah━━" Jacob began.

     "It's alright," Georgine reassured, deciding it was probably best to talk to him in front of the other two, if she didn't want an eventual fight to break out, "I only wanted to come and thank him."

     Leah seemed shocked, taken aback, at the prospect. "Thank him?"

     Georgine nodded. "Yeah," she sent a smile on the boy's direction━━a true one; one that reached her eyes, that showed the gratitude and appreciation as her eyes sparkled in delight. "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead."

     Seth seemed confused, shaking his head. Jacob only stood back, watching intently as his eyes raked over their interaction. "But, you are dead." Upon realising what he had said, his eyes widened, and he shook his head again, this time, a lot more vehemently. He brought his hands up in a motion of surrender. "No, sorry, I didn't mean it like that━━"

     She giggled. "It's okay, I know what you meant." She continued. "But, if you hadn't ripped Riley off of me when you did, I would've been nothing but pale flesh and rotten bones." When the words left her mouth, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Leah look her figure up and down. Georgine guessed she was thinking that the girl was already pale flesh and rotten bones. She wouldn't be wrong... "Now, I get a second chance, and it's all thanks to you."

     The vampire hesitantly began to spread her arms wide, gesturing him in for a hug━━she didn't know if he would go along with it, but she wanted to show the young boy how truly grateful she was for him being there when her death had happened. He had been the one to save her, he had been the one to stop her from dying... he had been the one to give her a second chance, to start over and do right by everything she wanted to change. Seth looked back at his older sister first, but she said nothing in response, only giving him a side look before her eyes raked themselves back over Georgine. It was a look that spoke how she didn't care if he went in for the hug, but she'd be there if the vampire were to try anything funny. Then, he looked back at Jacob, who, doing more than Leah, nodded his head, a faint smile ghosting his lips, approving the idea for him.

     As soon as he had gotten the approval, he jumped straight into her arms. Georgine stumbled back a little, attempting to regain her footing quickly, and wrapped her arms tight around his shoulders. For such a young boy, he was quite tall━━taller than Georgine━━but it didn't make the hug awkward. Nothing about their embrace was cumbersome; they had both needed it. Since the day she had awoken from her death, Georgine had wanted to thank Seth for saving her, even if he didn't think about it that way, and, now, she finally could. Seth, since the day his alpha had told him about Georgine being bitten and turned, had only felt guilty. The girl was on his mind constantly, never able to shake her terrified face as Riley plunged into her neck from his mind, and it hurt. Because, in his mind, it was his fault━━now, she had to live eternally, live a life of blood and pure hunger and death.

     He just didn't know how much she truly appreciated what he'd done.

     Once they pulled back, they sent one another a smile full of life, chuckles escaping their mouths at how stupid they had felt, but they were glad it happened. They turned around, then, the trio walking off into the woods, Georgine doing to same, stalking off back home. But, before she could get through the doors, she turned around and yelled for his attention once more. "You might not think it, but you're one tough wolf, Seth." A genuine, full-of-life, smile bloomed across his face, and he ran off, with the rest of his new pack.

     Georgine laughed, shaking her head at his antics, and moved back into her home. She jumped out of surprise, however, when she spotted Rosalie standing next to the doors, arms across her chest and brows furrowed. When she spoke, her voice was firm, but a bit of gentle humour lingered behind it. "You're too nice to them, you know."

     She sighed, shaking her head, and went to walk past her, taking off into the direction of the room Bella was resting in. "And, he's too good for this world."

     He was━━Georgine could only hope his true goodness wouldn't get him hurt.

♡

Georgine stepped into the room, a slight scent of a dog immediately clouding her senses, notifying her of Jacob's presence. Her dark eyes settled on both Edward and Jacob as they sat around Bella, their one pair of eyes never once leaving her sleeping figure.

Bella was getting skinnier and skinnier as the days went by, and Georgine couldn't help but the worry that completely began to overtake her entire being. It was all getting too dangerous, now━━Bella was only human, and she was carrying a child that was much stronger, much more bloodthirsty than herself. If they weren't careful, her own child would kill her.

But, Georgine would continue to stand by Bella's side throughout it all. She was her best friend, someone how had been there for her from the start, when she struggled to find anyone else who would. Unless Bella was seconds away from her breaking point (even though it could technically be considered she was then), Georgine wouldn't attempt to change Bella's mind, knowing it was already made, and how it was probably too late, anyway.

Looking over in the direction of the wall-to-ceiling windows, she noticed Emmett pacing back and forth, keeping his eyes trained on the outside, watching, waiting, for any threat to dare challenge them. The moonlight reflected off his features, hardening them out even more so than they already were. Georgine was grateful for Emmett━━she was grateful for them all━━but Emmett was easily the strongest of them all, and the one who loved to fight. With him on their side, he was bound to cause some mayhem for them; mayhem that would increase their chances against whoever came after Bella: wolves or Volturi.

Emmett looked up when Georgine entered the room, a tight-lipped smile overtaking his features, one she struggled to return when she knew Bella was suffering only feet away from her. They shared a nod, and Emmett went back to keeping guard.

A growl emitted from somewhere far off, but her heightened senses picked up on it━━she turned, and watched as Emmett stopped pacing, his body rigid. Georgine knew the wolves must've been outside, staring him down, challenging him. Walking up next to him (learning to walk properly all over again had taken up a lot of her time━━all she had wanted to do when she first turned was run everywhere, her new speed taking over everything else), her eyes settled on a pair of wolves, and she watched as they seemed to stiffen.

Georgine hadn't known the wolves before everything had happened, hadn't known them as their true selves, but seeing her there, possibly sensing her slowed heartbeat and understanding what it meant must've taken them aback a little. But, it didn't last long, either, for they were growling once more, teeth bared. Georgine just turned back.

Suddenly, Edward got up, storming out of the room in anger and frustration. Out of everyone, Edward must've been taking it the hardest (other than Bella, of course). He loved Bella━━his entire being was Bella━━and she was risking her life for something he had done to her. He couldn't save her, because she wouldn't let him. He just needed to understand that this was Bella's choice, and no one else's.

Georgine's eyes trailed after Edward's retreating figure, Emmett turning to her, silently questioning whether she could take guard overlooking the house whilst he went to check up on him. She only nodded in response.

As she looked out, a deep-rooted sigh sounded from behind her━━Bella had awoken, and witnessed Edward leave. Jacob didn't say anything; he probably didn't know what to say. But, then, he settled on, "how are you feeling?"

Georgine chuckled, a slight scoff embedded within, shaking her head a little. How was she feeling? "How do you think she's feeling?"

"I'm just looking out for her━━"

"Well, you could do that by━━"

"I'm fine."

They both turned to look at Bella, their argument dissolving when they realised Bella was their first priority. They shouldn't be arguing over things so stupid when Bella was there, suffering the most.

A silence settled among them for a short while, and Georgine wondered whether Bella had inevitably gone back to sleep before she heard her question, "Jake, could you give us a minute...?" Her voice sounded so weak, so little, that it began to break Georgine's heart. When Jacob didn't move, Bella pleaded again. "Please?"

He shared a look with Georgine, one that she thought came from a threatening background, but they both knew Bella was best looked after when in Georgine's care. Maybe he was just being paranoid. She couldn't exactly say she blamed him.

Once he left, Georgine didn't turn towards her best friend, continuing to watch out through the window, not necessarily thinking it best for her turn to her back. She knew some of the others were out keeping guard, too, a couple ways away, but she was the only one within Bella's vicinity. She wasn't risking it.

"Was it worth it?"

Bella's question caught Georgine slightly off-guard. Whilst it was vague, she immediately knew the intention behind it━━was becoming one of them worth it? When Georgine turned, she didn't exactly have a choice due to her minutes dwindling down, thanks to Riley. Bella did have a choice, one she wanted to go through with. Although, now that they thought about it, maybe Bella no longer had any options. She was carrying a vampire's child, something that could potentially be the cause of her death, and they all knew that the last thing they'd let happen would be for Bella to die. They'd have to turn her.

Maybe, in the end, neither girls were given a choice.

Georgine breathed out, thinking out her answer. "I suppose," she began. "It's nice knowing you can be around the others without them almost killing you..." she trailed off, the realness of their situation kicking in, "...but it's really hard trying to control yourself when you're surrounded by the people you love."

"But, you're past that now, aren't━━"

"I don't think you ever get past it." Georgine cut Bella off, disappointment lodged within her tone. "I think it's something that'll always be there, in the back of your mind... waiting for you to lose control, even for just a second... like a... mantra..." She was beginning to space out. "Yeah, it gets easier... but it never goes away."

Once more, silence fell upon them, neither of them knowing what to say. From the beginning, it seemed Bella had wanted to become the same as Edward, knowing that she'd be able to spend the rest of her life with the one person she loved most. But, she'd also known the repercussions that came along with it, and continued to fight for her own chance.

Whilst it was something Georgine admired about Bella, it was also something that terrified her.

Georgine let out a sigh, turning her head around to look at Bella, what was left of her retched heart sinking to the depths of her stomach. Bella was so thin, so fragile━━she wasn't going to last through her labour.

And Georgine Brodeur didn't know if she could live in a world, forever, without Bella.

"You're going to be fine, you know." Her voice cut through the silence, echoing around the room. She angled her head around so she could look Bella in the eyes, wanting her best friend to know how true her words were.

Bella only shook her head slightly, a small smile plastering over her face. "I know; you've all said━━"

"No." Georgine interrupted her, this time turning her entire body around. A stern look passed over her features, the seriousness taking over. "I know we've all sworn to protect you, but this is different." She paused, heaving a sigh, before continuing. "I mean, I will kill anyone and everyone who threatens you... It's you, or it's nothing; there's no other option."

Bella didn't say anything, and after a while, she managed to close her eyes again. Whether she actually fell asleep or not, Georgine didn't know. But, as long as she was able to have an hour or two of rest, it didn't really matter.

NOTE.
so i wrote about it before i checked (which is obviously a bad idea),, but seth and leah never actually enter the cullen house when jacob is telling them all about sam's plans, but that's now gonna be canon in this fic bc i also wanted to include the interaction between seth & georgine :)